I grin at the sight before me. Where the hell would I be without them?
I creep into the kitchen and head straight for the cupboard before rummaging through until my fingers curl around the little glass jar. With a grin, I pour a handful of powder into my hand and chuckle to myself. I’ve been waiting for this moment since the day Noah first barged his way into my home.
I walk up behind Noah and slide my arms around him. “Hi,” I murmur into his back.
His hands come down on my arms, holding me there, assuming I’m being a nice little girlfriend and giving him a loving hug. I peek around his back and the second he reaches forward and removes the lid off the boiling pot, my hand shoots out, releasing the handful of chili powder into the water.
“What are you doing?” he demands, nudging me back out of the way by bopping me with his ass.
“What do you mean?” I question innocently as he tries to scoop out the chili powder, having no idea that there’s pizza waiting for him in the other room. “You’re the one who told me that you put chili powder in everything. Don’t tell me that was a lie,” I gasp in mock horror.
He presses his lips together, realizing that I know exactly what game he was playing during our first meal together. “I…shit,” he laughs. “How long have you known about that?”
“Since the very start,” I smile proudly.
He draws in a deep breath while looking at me with mischievous eyes. “You know I’m going to have to start all over again, right?”
“You know there’s pizza on the coffee table, right?”
His eyes widen as Tully throws down the potato in her hands. “Yes,” she squeals.
Within the blink of an eye, the two of them storm out of the kitchen sounding like a damn stampede. I laugh after them, turn off the stove, and follow them out of the kitchen, more than ready for tonight’s food coma.
Chapter 3
The afternoon sun blares in my face as my backpack weighs down on my shoulders. I’m halfway home when Tully’s jeep pulls up on the sidewalk beside me. “What the hell are you doing walking home?” she laughs as she tries her best to watch both me and the road in front of her.
I throw my hands up with a huff as Tully brings her car to a stop. “I don’t know,” I groan, opening the door and climbing in just in time for Tully to swipe the crap off the passenger’s seat onto the floor. “Noah gave me a lift this morning and then he and Rivers disappeared to do whatever shady shit it is that they do, leaving me stranded,” I whine. “And when I couldn’t find you, I figured your tongue was down someone’s throat so I started walking.”
“You’re such a Muppet,” she howls with laughter, pulling back out onto the road and hitting the gas towards my place. “And for the record, my tongue was down Travis’ throat.”
“Travis?” I question. “Who the fuck is Travis?”
“You know,” she says, clicking her finger as she gets lost in thought. “The hipster guy with the man bun. And skinny jeans.”
“Oh,” I laugh. “His name’s not Travis by the way, it’s Trent.”
“What?” she grunts, looking across at me. “Fuck. Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Shit. I called him Travis to his face and he still let me play around with him.”
“Duh,” I laugh. “He has a dick and I bet, with that man bun, it hasn’t been touched in a really long time. Of course, he’s going to let you call him Travis. You could probably call him a fucking wet pussy and pull out a strap on and he’d still let you ride him to the grave.”
“Jesus,” she says, slightly amused by my little tantrum. “What crawled up your ass?”
“Your fucking brother. I want to castrate him,” I demand. “I swear, I’ve been cursing those fuckers out since the second I left school.” I huff again, crossing my arms over my chest. “Is it too much to ask for a simple ‘Hey, I can’t drive you home this afternoon, maybe it’s best you drive yourself.’ Fuck me.”
“Uh oh,” she grumbles under her breath, still with that frustratingly annoying grin on her face. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Damn straight there is. I mean, what’s this big fucking secret anyway? What are they always up to?”
She draws in a breath. “You know I can’t tell you. I wish I could, but it’s not my place. To be honest, I don’t know why he doesn’t just come clean. It’s not like it’s that bad. And fuck, it would make things so much easier.”
I narrow my eyes on her as the frustration nearly becomes unbearable. “Just… please?”
She shakes her head. “Trust me, I’m more scared of what Noah and Rivers would do to me if they knew I caved than what you could do to me if I don’t.”
I let out another groan. I shouldn’t be putting her in this position anyway. It’s her brother and one of the closest friends she has. I don’t want to be responsible for causing drama between them, but it’s so damn annoying. All I want is a simple explanation as to where the fuck those big bastards keep disappearing to. I mean, my head is starting to get filled with all sorts of scenarios, each one worse than the last.
“Damn it. I love him, but I swear, he’s so damn frust-”
Tully sucks in a breath and her words tumble out in a rushed gasp. “You love him?”
My head whips around to face her as my eyes widen in fear. Shit. What the hell did I just say?
I swallow back as the words become a jumbled mess in my head. I didn’t just say that I love him, right? And in front of Tully of all people. What the hell was I thinking? She’ll have our wedding planned by the end of the night, our baby names picked out, and a house in a quiet street with a white picket fence just waiting for us to buy “Ummmmm…”
“Wooooooo. I fucking knew it,” she booms, fist bumping the horn and letting the whole fucking world know how thrilled she is.
I scramble across the front seat, diving for her hand to stop her honking again. “Cut it out,” I shriek. “I didn’t… I don’t.”
“Ah, but you do.”
“Stop. Just… don’t tell him ok. I don’t even…”
“Spit it out,” she demands, rolling her eyes but not managing to rid herself of the cheesy as fuck grin across her face.
“The words just slipped out. I haven’t even really thought about it. You know, if I do… or not.”
“You do,” she confirms.
“And how the hell would you know that?”
She wiggles her fingers towards me. “Call me psychic,” she laughs. I smack her hand away and fix her with a stare, terrifying enough to bring down the worst kind of guys. Tully sighs. “Just, trust me, ok? You do. You look at Noah like the world starts and ends with him. It’s all in your eyes. But honestly,” she adds, scrunching up her face. “I don’t really get it. The guy is a super turd. Like, have you ever used the bathroom after him? Believe me, it’s not nice.”
“Stop,” I laugh. “I don’t want to hear about your brother’s bathroom habits.”
“Look,” she says. “You’re my girl and I think it’s only fair that you know what kind of guy yourself getting yourself involved with.”
“Don’t,” I warn her. “I don’t want to hear about the porn stash and spank sock under his bed or how many apple pies he ripped through as a kid.”
“Yuck,” she howls, waving her manicured hands around, trying to get the image out of her head. “That’s undoubtedly the grossest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Oh, yeah?” I challenge her. “Then I should tell you about the time he got me on my-”
“STOP,” she squeals. “You win. Ok. Just… stop. I can’t handle it. I think I’m going to hurl.”
I grin back at her, proud as hell of my afternoon’s accomplishment. Getting one over Tully Cage is not the easiest feat, but this one came too easy. I just wish I hadn’t opened my mouth to start with. I mean, ‘I love him’ just sort of slipped out. Do I love him? Hell, I don’t know. Maybe. I'm definitely falling for the guy, but have I already fallen?
Shit. This is too fucking hard. I can’t handle it.
Tully turns down my street and before long, she’s coming to a stop at the top of my drive with us both gawking at the sight before us. “I guess that answers where he’s been all afternoon.”
“No shit,” I breathe as a slow but suspicious smile creeps across my face, seeing my boyfriend leaning shirtless over the open hood of the old pick up while my dad sits back, frowning at the old hunk of metal before him.
I wipe at my face. Am I drooling? Because I sure as hell should be. Seeing Noah working on the truck I drive has me feeling all sorts of good inside. The way his body rolls with each movement. The way his muscles bulge as he tightens bolts. The ways the ink across his skin seems to dance as the sheer layer of sweat upon his skin glistens in the sun.
Holy freaking hell.
“Do you need a moment?” Tully murmurs beside me.
I glance back at her, realizing she’s still there. Shit, I think I forgot she was there.
My tongue shoots out across my bottom lip as my eyelids drop. “Your brother…”
“Yep, ok. I’m out. Get your horny ass out of my car,” she tells me. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I chuckle to myself as I push my way out of the car, making sure to give the door a firm closing before Tully screeches off down the road.
I walk down the drive and the second Noah straightens from somewhere within the hood, his eyes come to mine. They light with excitement as a beaming smile rips across his face, damn happy to see me.
My heart skips. There’s nothing better than that. The way he looks at me and makes me feel like the only woman in the world. Fuck. It’s addictive. A fucking obsession and I crave it day in and day out.
Noah places a wrench down on the side of the hood and walks towards me, meeting me in the middle. “Hey, Spitfire,” he welcomes, reaching for me.
As desperately as I want to go to him, I pull away. “You’re covered in grease,” I say, scrunching up my face as I take in the mess covering his rock hard body. His eyes drop down and he frowns as though this is the first time he’s realizing it.
That grease though. What I wouldn’t give to slide my myself across him like that.
“Squish,” my dad’s voice is called from the opposite side of the truck, bringing me back to reality and making me realize I’m about to strip off naked and throw myself at my dirty grease monkey in front of my father.
Get a fucking grip, Henley. You can screw him later. Certainly not now when your father is around. Hell, you shouldn’t even be thinking about that shit right now.
I press up onto my tippy toes and give Noah a swift kiss on his cheek, absolutely adoring the wolfish grin he gives me before I walk past to find dad. “Hey, dad. What’s going on? Is the truck broken again?”
He steps forward, grabbing my chin between his forefinger and thumb before twisting my head from left to right, studying each and every mark on my face. "How was school? You didn’t get in any trouble, did you?” he questions, just as he does every other day since Monica and her band of bitches jumped me.
I shrug him off. “I’m fine, and no, I didn’t get into any fights…yet.”
“Yet?” he sputters. “You won’t be fighting with anyone. You’ve already gotten yourself in enough trouble.”
Little does he know.
“Dad,” I grumble with annoyance. “The truck?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s not kicking over again,” he sighs, slapping his hand down on the old thing. “She’s getting on, but I was hoping she still had a few more years in her.”
I cringe as I look over the truck. “I seriously doubt it,” I tell him. “She’s like a hundred years old.”
“Oh, come on,” he says. “She’s not that old.”
I prop an eyebrow, challenging him. He’s had this truck since he was a kid and it’s not like he bought it new. It’s been passed down from generation to generation and I think it’s about time he realized that the tradition isn’t going to last forever.
“Really, dad?” I laugh.
He grins back at me. “You’re fuckin’ trouble, Squish,” he murmurs before nodding towards Noah at my back. “I was hoping we could get it fixed before you got home and gave me a hard time about it.”
I look back over my shoulder at Noah as questions start flying through my mind. “How long have you been here?”
He shrugs his shoulder. “I don’t know. A few hours, maybe.”
I bite down on my bottom lip. If he’s been here with dad all afternoon, that couldn’t possibly mean that he was somewhere else doing shady shit with Rivers, so I guess I owe him an apology for doubting him. All that frustration and plotting his gruesome death was all for nothing.
Noah silently studies me. “What?” he murmurs as dad’s phone starts blasting from inside, most likely with a new job coming in.
Dad hurries inside as I step into Noah, suddenly not giving a shit that he’s covered in grease. Hell, we can shower together if we really have to. I tilt my head up as he brings his down, meeting my lips in the middle as he takes my waist with his thumb running back and forth over my too warm skin. Desire pulses into me with his touch and for the slightest moment, it nearly knocks me right off my feet. Maybe Tully was onto something. Maybe I’m already in love with the guy. “You weren’t out bending the law with Rivers,” I murmur between kisses.
He shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “No. Why? You worried about where I’ve been all afternoon?”
“No,” I scoff as a beaming smile rips across my face. “You wish you had that kind of hold over me. Sorry to break the news, heartbreaker, but you’re not that cool.”
His eyes fill with fire as he slowly nods his head. “Yeah, I am.”
I kiss him once again. “You’re helping my dad,” I comment, absolutely loving how the sight of them working on this old truck together defrosts my cold heart just that little bit more.
His eyes search me out for a brief moment, making my stomach squirm with butterflies. “Is that alright?”
I press myself harder into him, running my lips across his once again. “More than alright,” I murmur with a soft smile. “You know, your sister was trying to help me see the light. She thinks I’ve made a grave mistake dating you.”
“Oh, really?” he questions with those green eyes sparkling. “Dare I ask how the hell she thought she could do that?”
Trying my hardest to keep a seriousness about me and struggling not to break, I run my fingers up his wide chest. “She filled me in on your bathroom habits.”
He grins down at me, not even the slightest bit fazed at what Tully and I were discussing. “Did she just?” he laughs. “Maybe I need to be filling you in on the things that she does when she thinks no one is home.”
“Trust me,” I groan. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”
His arms circle my waist, his thumb still moving back and forth over my heated skin. “Did it work? Have you seen the light?”
I shake my head. “Nope, still covered in darkness.”
“Good,” he murmurs. “Keep it that way.”
With that, he presses another kiss to my lips and releases his hold on me before taking my hand and leading me back over to the open hood of dad’s old pick up. He gets straight back to work and wastes no time using me as his little slave woman, fetching tools and grabbing things as he passes them back.
Usually, I’d have an issue with being ordered around, but I’m more than happy to stand here, doing exactly what he asks as it means watching the way his body moves in a way that gets me so damn hot.
Noah hands me a few bolts before holding his hand out expectantly for something else, grunting as though I’m supposed to know what he’s after. I look at the selection before me and assume he’s not holding his hand out for a high five.
I grab a screwdriver and hand it down to him, hoping it was the right thing. “So, did I hear that right?” Noah murmurs from within the hood. “Did your dad just call you ‘Squish’
?”
“Yeah,” I laugh as he practically throws the screwdriver back at me.
“No, I need the adjustable wrench.”
The fuck?
“So… Squish?”
“Oh, yeah,” I say, looking around at the tools once again, completely lost. “I don’t really know. He’s always called me Squish. I just assumed it was because I came out all squishy.”
Noah laughs and pulls himself out of the hood before grabbing the tool he needs with an amused smirk and disappearing once again. “So, you’re saying you were a little fatty? A pork chop?”
“Like you can talk,” I laugh, kicking playfully at his ankle. “Your mom has shown me your baby pictures. You were like a little baby budda. No, a baby sumo wrestler. I hardly recognized you without the tatts.”
He looks back at me with narrowed eyes as we hear the front door slamming open. “Got bad news, Squish,” Dad says walking over. “I’ve got another job.”
Dread fills me. Dad never refers to ‘another job’ as bad news. “Spit it out, old man,” I tell him, the tone in my voice making Noah straighten out and pay a little more attention.
Dad cringes as he sucks in a deep breath with nothing but regret shining through his eyes, letting me know that whatever he’s about to say is not exactly easy for him. “I’ll be gone for upwards of two weeks. It’s a big one.”
My world begins to crumble. “Two weeks?” I gasp. Dad has never been gone for that long before. I mean, I’m more than capable of looking after myself for two weeks, but anything could happen to him out there. That’s two weeks of nonstop driving. What if a storm ripped through or his health took a turn? There would be no one there to help him. Noah reaches out and threads his greased up fingers through mine. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Dad shrugs. “Money is money, kid. You know that.”
“I know, but…”
“Save me the lecture, Squish,” he says. “I’ll check in with you every day, eat the good shit you like, and I’ll even get the truck checked over before I go.”
“You’re not leaving right away?” I ask, feeling a little better about his calling everyday game plan, but usually, when this shit happens, he heads out the very next morning.
Unbelievable: Haven Falls (Book 2) Page 3
